The new Republican leaders of the Florida Legislature surprised colleagues on both sides of the aisle on Tuesday with tough talk against insurance companies and a new focus on the state’s affordability crisis. On the first day of the next legislative term, House Speaker Danny Perez, R-Miami, criticized private equity companies buying up homes in Florida. Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, warned insurance companies about paying claims on time. “I want to make sure that impacted Floridians and insurance companies hear me loudly and clearly — we are watching,” Albritton said, to a standing ovation. “I’m not going to sit idly by if legitimate claims get denied while rates continue to rise. Period.” Perez implied that years of legislative reforms that have made it harder to sue insurance companies were giveaway to the industry. President-elect Donald Trump once blasted the changes as a “bailout” to insurers. “(Floridians) don’t want our state’s insurance laws to be written by insurance companies,” Perez told colleagues. The populist messaging was a notable shift in tone for the leaders of the Republican-heavy Legislature, who have in the past adhered to more traditional GOP orthodoxy. For the next two years, Perez and Albritton will be two of the most powerful people in the state, responsible for crafting a balanced budget and expected to carry out Gov. Ron DeSantis’ agenda. Democratic colleagues, who make up less than a third of the members in each chamber, praised the leaders’ sentiments Tuesday. Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, said Albritton’s message was “fantastic.” “When’s the last time you heard a (Senate) president talk about holding a professional organization accountable?” Pizzo said. House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said Democrats in the Legislature have long been asking Republicans to take a harder stance against insurers. “For too long, Republicans in Tallahassee have placed the wish list of insurance companies ahead of the needs of homeowners,” Driskell said in a text message. FOCUS ON ‘AFFORDABILITY’ The prior Senate president and House speaker often outlined ahead of each session specific legislation they wanted passed. Last year, that included some health care reforms and banning kids from using social media. Neither Perez nor Albritton outlined any particular reforms on Tuesday. Perez, a 37-year-old lawyer and son of Cuban immigrants, said he had a one-word focus for the next two years: affordability. “I don’t want to lose that next generation of talent to another state because the affordability of this state has gone too high,” he told reporters. During his speech to lawmakers, Perez referred to corporations buying up homes in the state. A Tampa Bay Times investigation found that large companies have amassed 27,000 homes in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. More than 70% of those properties are linked to Wall Street and private equity investors. Across the state, corporate investors own about 117,000 homes. “(Floridians) want to own their own homes, not be tenants to private equity firms,” Perez told representatives. Albritton, however, was not enthusiastic about tackling private equity companies buying up homes, saying it sounded like a “free market” issue. Albritton, a fourth-generation citrus farmer, called for a “rural renaissance” in Florida that included saving “from extinction our iconic Florida citrus industry.” Since joining the state Legislature as a representative in 2010, Albritton has focused largely on agriculture and Florida’s environment — including running a water bill that found itself on the other side of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto pen — and the foster care system. Albritton faced controversy in 2014 when the state Commission on Ethics investigated whether he, his brother and another state lawmaker, then-Rep. Jamie Grant, used their positions to benefit themselves from a high-dollar development project. The committee said Albritton didn’t violate any laws, but the next year, a Hardee County grand jury report raised questions about how the development project was managed. DESANTIS’ AGENDA STILL KEY Both men said they wanted to shake up how the state Legislature has operated in recent years. Albritton said he wanted to study the state’s problems before taking action. Legislators passed years of insurance reforms without any studies showing it would work, for example. Perez announced last week he was rewriting House rules to forbid legislators who are representing corporate interests from being on the chamber floor during session, a loophole that he said was exploited by former members for “de facto lobbying.” Both men shut down DeSantis’ request to hold a special legislative session by the end of this year to address a brewing condominium crisis. Instead, they said they planned to address it when lawmakers reconvene for the annual 60-day session in March. “I have heard the call for a special session on condos just like the rest of us have,” Perez said. “The question shouldn’t be when. The question should be what.” And despite a majority of voters voting for amendments 3 and 4, which would have allowed for recreational marijuana use and would have protected abortion until viability, respectively, both leaders said they don’t plan to address either issue. They also indicated that they don’t plan to investigate DeSantis’ controversial use of taxpayer dollars to oppose the amendments. Albritton said that he thought the state-sponsored advertisements were “a reasonable use” of money.

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